LEADERS KEEP A CLEAN HEART

Psalm 51: 10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” D. L. Moody always strived to keep a clean heart and did not want anything to diminish his ministry and fellowship with God. He kept short accounts with God by quickly confession any known sin. Each night he asked God to examine his heart by reviewing the events of the day. He asked the Lord to show him anything that displeased Him. This way Moody kept a clean heart and close fellowship with the Father. How about you? Are you willing to be this open and honest with God? How did you treat your wife and kids and those at work today?

When I served as President of Texas A&M University, I started each day with a prayer that included two things: 1) That God would give me the courage and wisdom to make the right decisions in everything I faced that day and 2) That God would protect me in these decisions and protect His witness in my life. He never failed me and each night I reviewed the day and asked Him to examine me to see if I had been obedient. My prayer and quiet examination of my words and actions were driven by our verse above and Psalm 139: 23-24 “Search me, O God, and know my heat! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” There were days when this examination was hard and painful, but look at the last phrase, “and lead me in the way everlasting.” If we are to lead with character and integrity, then we must be willing to have God examine our every word and action and be honest with Him. This is how He can create and keep a clean heart in us, but we have to do our part by obediently asking Him to search our hearts daily. Why not? He already knows our heart and wants us to know it also.